Statement by ARB Chairwoman Indicates Need for Stronger
Amendments to Clean Air Act than Those Proposed by Senate

SACRAMENTO -
Jananne Sharpless, chairwoman of the California Air Resources Board (ARB)
and Governor Deukmejian's Secretary of Environmental Affairs, issued the
following statement in support of stronger amendments to the Clean Air
Act than those recently proposed the Senate.

"There is no question
that the Senate's recent proposal for changing the Clean Air Act needs
to be strengthened. The proposed amendments fail to challenge either the
auto or the oil industry to develop the low pollution vehicles and fuels
California and other states with severe air pollution problems will need
to attain clean air standards by the deadlines the Congress would impose
on us.

"An original bold
and innovative proposal to introduce clean, alternative fuels has vanished,
to be replaced with a partial cleansing of current gasoline that will not
be required until nearly the turn of the century. What the Senate considers
"alternative" fuel will be everyday gasoline in California by
1994.

"In addition, a
new generation of tailpipe standards will be implemented only if 12 or
more cities fail to meet air quality deadlines. The conditions under which
these standards would be imposed are unrealistic. This ill advised compromise
could result in millions of people unnecessarily to air pollution which
these cleaner cars could eliminate.

"I urge the
Senate to reject the proposed compromise, and replace its motor vehicle
provisions with a second round of tailpipe standards and the clean vehicle
program developed jointly by the states of California and New York. Our
proposal relies on the best available emission controls and much cleaner
fuels to achieve nearly three times the emission reductions of the compromise.

"We also support
efforts to restore strong emission controls on medium sized industrial
facilities that emit less than 100 tons of pollution a year, as was included
in the original Senate bill. These facilities are, collectively, the largest
fraction of the industrial pollution problem and we have already regulated
them effectively and at a reasonable cost in California."

The Air Resources Board
is a department of the California Environmental Protection Agency. ARB's
mission is to promote and protect public health, welfare, and ecological
resources through effective reduction of air pollutants while recognizing
and considering effects on the economy. The ARB oversees all air pollution
control efforts in California to attain and maintain health based air quality
standards.